„Ezra, time to get up:" The only reply Aria got was a low growl before he turned around again and tried to block out the sunlight by throwing his arm over his eyes. Aria reached out to run her fingers through the messy black hair at the back of his head. „Come on, honey. You don't wanna be late on your first day, do you?" She lightly scratched his neck, knowing that that he couldn't resist her when she touched him like that. But instead of turning around to face her, he slightly angled his head to give her better access to his neck and started purring like a cat. She chuckled at his childish side and got up, slowly peeling the covers from his body leaving him without his warm blanket. „Not fair." he complained, his voice rough from sleep. „I tried the fair way first but since your're acting like a child on the first day of school I had to take drastic measures. Plus, I'll have to leave soon 'cause I'm meeting up with the girls before heading to school together. So, get up now Mister before you'll get to know my mean side."
Smiling to herself, she walked back into his kitchen area. The early morning sunlight that came through the blinds warmed her back and the wooden floor felt warm against her bare feet. After she got herself another cup of coffee she snuggled back on the sofa still dressed in one of Ezra's old Hollis sweaters. She loved the feel of the fabric against her bare skin and it still held Ezra's familiar scent. She sat her cup on the table and spread her school books around her. She still had some Algebra homework left from last night and had a hard time focussing on the various tasks their teacher had assigned.
Time seemed to pass slowly and she only looked up from her work when she heard Ezra's laugh. She saw him standing in the bathroom door, his hair still dripping from his recent shower and only dressed in a towel that he had tied around his waist. Small water droplets fell from the tips of his hair and formed puddles all around his feet. She could have stared at him for hours but he broke the tension by walking back to his closet to get dressed for the day. „Did I ever tell you that you look kinda cute when you're frustrated?" He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her. As soon as he turned around again she got up from the couch and tiptoed over to where he was standing. She wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head on his back, her cheeks only reaching up to his shoulder blades. He smelled of soap and aftershave and the typical scent that was just his. A scent she couldn't describe. He turned around without breaking her embrace and put his arms around her petite body, his head came to rest on the top of her head. She lifted her head from his chest and looked into his eyes.
„Perfect." she whispered and he raised an eyebrow questioningly. „You, this, just being here with you." She snuggled back into his chest and he tightened his embrace because he knew that she felt safe when he held her like that. He didn't have to say anything, hugging her like that said more than thousand words.
In the last weeks their relationship had been put to the test. After telling her parents about her relationship with Ezra - leaving out the that part where they were already seeing each other while he was her teacher - they had argued a lot. With each other and with her parents. They had to show them that they were equals in this relationship because their first worry was that Ezra was taking advantage of her. They had tried to break them up but ever since they realized Aria was being her usual stubborn and noticing that she wasn't willing to risk her relationship with Ezra just for the sake of keeping the family peace they had slowly come around. At least that's what it looked like.. they still tried to calm themselves by thinking that the age difference would break them up sooner or later.
Nonetheless, they had invited Ezra over for dinner, mainly to see how the couple interacted. What they saw was a couple madly in love with each other. A couple that was always touching and glancing at each other. Loving gestures passed between them even if it was just Aria's hand on Ezra's knee to calm him down or their fingers interlacing when they spoke about how they met. Once in a while Ezra would tug a lose strand of Aria's hair behind her ears or would place a hand on the small of her hand. As soon as they though that nobody was watching them they shared a passionate kiss. Ella chuckled as she saw them kissing. They shared the same interests and besides the fact of their age difference and him being her ex-english teacher there was nothing bad she could think of her daughter's relationship. This was so Aria. Aria knew that they had her parent's blessing when they allowed her to spend the night at Ezra's place. They even spared her from their usual „Don't do anything stupid"-talk.
All those thoughts crossed Aria's mind while she was safely wrapped in Ezra's arms. For the first time in weeks, she felt at ease. „A Penny for your thoughts." Ezra whispered, breaking her train of thought. „I'm just happy everything turned out to be okay. With my parents, I mean. It feels like we can finally be a real couple. Without all the hiding and sneaking around." „We are.." he sighed „..Just like everybody else.. hey, wanna celebrate tonight? I wanna take you out for dinner. To a nice restaurant." Aria saw his boyish smile and smiled brightly. „I'd love to." They wouldn't care about what people thought about them. They were in love.